Google Nest has a number of security camera options within its portfolio from a video doorbell to indoor and outdoor options.

All Nest cameras have 1080p video, night vision and 24/7 live video, and they all offer a three-hour snapshot history without a Nest Aware subscription. To get the most out of all of the Nest cameras though, you will need to pay for Nest Aware, which you can read all about in our separate feature.

Nest also has a number of other smart home devices, like the Nest Hub Max and Nest Mini that will work alongside Nest cameras in the Google Home or Nest app. This feature specifically focuses on the Nest cameras available though and what each of them offers to help you work out which might be right for you and your home.

Quick summary

Nest Cam Indoor: The entry point into Nest cameras. It doesn't have as many features as the Nest Cam IQ Indoor, but it is a great indoor security camera that will do the job.

Nest Cam IQ Indoor: Quite pricey but offers some great features including built-in Google Assistant, live tracking and familiar face detection.

Nest Cam Outdoor: The entry point into Nest's Outdoor security camera range. Not as smart as the Nest Cam IQ Outdoor, but it still offers plenty of excellent features for its price.

Nest Cam IQ Outdoor: The most expensive Nest camera available. It offers all the same features as the standard outdoor camera, along with better night vision, better two-way took, familiar face detection and tracking.

Nest Hello: Nest's video doorbell has a pretty wide field of view, allowing it to act both as a video doorbell and security camera for the front of your house. It doesn't have all the features the specific outdoor cameras offer, but it might be enough for some.

The Nest Indoor is the cheapest of the Nest security cameras available. It isn't quite as intelligent as the Nest Cam IQ - below - but it still has many of the features you would expect from an indoor security camera, including night vision and motion alerts.

The Nest Indoor also has more placement flexibility than the Nest Cam IQ. You can stand it on a flat surface, wall mount it or use the built-in magnet to attach it to something magnetic. It will need to be close to a power socket though.

If you subscribe to Nest Aware, the Nest Indoor camera will also be able to distinguish between a person and a thing, and you'll be able to set up activity zones for more tailored notifications.

The Nest Cam IQ Indoor was double the price of the Nest Cam Indoor when it first launched, but it offers a few extra features for that money, including something called Supersight, which uses the 4K sensor to deliver close up tracking of any motion detected.

There's also HD two-way talk, along with noise and echo suppression, a more powerful speaker than the Nest Cam Indoor and three microphones. The Nest Cam IQ Indoor also has Google Assistant built-in so you can use it for a whole manner of tasks, such as controlling smart living room lights, or asking a question.

Distinguishing between a person and a thing comes as standard with the Nest Cam IQ Indoor, but a Nest Aware subscription will also offer familiar face detection so as it learns, it will be able to tell you exactly who is in your living room if you have created a profile.

The Nest Cam Outdoor offers many of the features you would expect from an outdoor security camera, including night vision, weather resistance and two-way talk with a built-in speaker and microphone for talking to an intruder, or just the postman.

Unlike Arlo cameras, the Nest Cam Outdoor requires mains power so installation is a little more complicated than just sticking it up onto the wall, but this also means you won't ever have to recharge any batteries.

As with the Nest Cam Indoor, if you subscribe to Nest Aware, the Nest Cam Outdoor will distinguish between a person and a thing so you'll get more relevant alerts and you'll also be able to set up activity zones, perhaps choosing the back gate or back door as a focus area.

The Nest Cam IQ Outdoor offers all the same features as the Nest Cam Outdoor, but like the IQ Indoor model, it is more intelligent. You get better weather resistance with the IQ Outdoor, as well as HD two-way talk and HDR.

The Nest Cam IQ Outdoor also has a 4K sensor that allows for close up tracking of any motion detected and there is better night vision on board too, compared to the standard Outdoor camera.

As with the Nest Cam Indoor IQ, person detection is included as standard on the Outdoor IQ, but if you opt for a Nest Aware subscription, you also get familiar face detection and activity zones.

The Nest Hello video doorbell isn't the cheapest device and installation isn't the easiest, but it has plenty of features on board and for some, it will be able to act as both a video doorbell and an outdoor security camera thanks to its wide field of view.

It doesn't offer all the same features as the Nest Cam Outdoor models and the image quality isn't as good but the Nest Hello is an excellent video doorbell that offers good two-way talk, a lovely design, pre-recorded responses for when you aren't home and it is able to distinguish between person and thing as standard.

With a Nest Aware subscription, the Nest Hello has familiar face recognition so over time it will learn who is who to tell you when grandma is at the door, and you'll also be able to set up activity zones too, like other Nest cameras, for more focused notifications.

Other Nest devices to consider…

These aren't Nest cameras but they fall under the Nest brand and they work alongside the cameras if you have them in your home.

Pocket-lint

Nest Mini

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The Nest Mini is a puck-like speaker featuring Google Assistant built in so you can use it to play music, ask Assistant to turn on smart lights for example, or ask a question like what the football score is.

If you opt for the Nest Hello video doorbell, you can turn on visitor announcements in the Nest app so when someone rings your doorbell, the Nest Mini will tell you someone is at the door and if they are a familiar face, who is at the door.

Nest Hub Max

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The Nest Hub Max is a Smart Display with a built-in speaker, built-in Nest camera, a 10-inch screen and Google Assistant.

The Nest camera doesn't have night vision so it isn't able to replace the Nest Cam Indoor or Nest Cam IQ Indoor entirely, but it's a good two-in-one device that allows you to 'drop in' on the room it is in to see what is going on, as well as stream any other Nest cameras you have, get visitor announcements from Nest Hello and see things like weather, control other smart devices and watch YouTube videos, for example.

Nest Hub

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The Nest Hub is like the Nest Hub Max but it doesn't have a built-in camera and it is smaller, with a 7-inch screen instead.

You can still use it to stream other Nest cameras though, and if someone rings the Nest Hello doorbell, you'll see them appear on the Nest Hub's screen, along with the announcement of their arrival, if you have the feature turned on.